Send the Light

As a young boy, Charles Gabriel wanted to be like his father—not as the farmer who moved his family from Ohio to the undeveloped lands just west of Davenport, Iowa, but rather, as the singing school teacher. His father’s love for music was contagious. Charles, born in 1856, taught himself to play their family organ. He thought of melodies during the day, when he was plowing and planting, and he wrote them down each night.

Charles heard many kinds of songs, including some written during America’s recent Civil War. But he desired to write songs about his Christian faith. Confident that he had discovered his destiny, he left home at 17. Making a living by teaching and writing, his first hymn was published in 1873. However, widespread recognition of Charles didn’t come until the publication of “Send the Light” in 1890.

In this hymn, he expressed his overwhelming burden for people to receive the Gospel. Lives were perishing each day without Jesus, and Charles felt a call from these lost Souls: “There’s a call comes ringing over the restless wave, ‘Send the light! Send the light!’” He couldn’t be silent for “there are souls to rescue” and save. Like Paul, he experienced his own Macedonian call and could not turn back. He knew that a commitment to missions came with a price, and that it required laying his “offering at the Cross.” Yet he was willing.

Today, more than ever, the world needs the Light of the Gospel. Two billion people have never heard the name “Jesus” even once. But God has given us satellite television, radio, the Internet, and other powerful tools to send the Light.

Pray that God will give you a new burden for Souls. Dedicate your life to sending the Light to a dying world.